Heat breaker strip construction for spaced wall insulated cabinets



1947- 1 R. s. BUCHANAN 2,425,027

HEAT BREAKER STRIP CONSTRUCTION FOR SPACED WALL INSULATED CABINETS Original Filed Sept. 1, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 v FIG-Ll. s5 q 59 56 -55 if. V ,1 I

INVE NTOR ROYAL. S. BUCHANAN.

BWM

ATTORNEY Aug, 5; 1947. R. s. BUCHANAN HEAT BREAKER STRIP (JONS'IRUC'JJION FOR SPACED WALL I NSULATED CABINETS Original Filed se t. 1, 1942' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ROYAL 5. BUCHANAN.

ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 5, 1947 NHTED STATES HEAT BREAKER STRIP CONSTRUCTION FGR SPACED WALL INSULATED CABINETS Royal S. Buchanan, Mansfield, Ohio, assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania 4 Claims. 1

My invention relates to refrigerator cabinet construction and particularly to a breaker strip assembly for a refrigerator cabinet. This application is a division of myapplication filed September 1, 1942, Serial No. 456,844, and entitled Refrigerating apparatus, now matured into Patent No. 2,376,446.

It is an object of my invention to provide a novel and improved structure for attaching a breaker strip to a refrigerator cabinet without the use of nails, screws and the like.

It is another object of my invention to provide a practical structure for attaching a breaker strip to a food compartment liner of a refrigerator cabinet whereinthe edge of the food liner is formed in a channel section to impart additional strength and rigidity thereto, and wherein the use of nails, screws and the like are dispensed with.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a, breaker strip assembly which is easy to mount or remove from a refrigerator cabinet.

It is another object of my invention to provide a breaker strip assembly which allows for variation and warpage of the metal shells of the refrigerator cabinet, without afiecting the appearance of the finished product.

These and other objects are effected by my invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of i this application, in which:

Fig. l is a front view of a refrigerator cabinet to which my invention is applied;

Fig. 2 is a rear view of a breaker strip assemr detailed description of my invention, numeral H designates refrigerator cabinet ating the contents thereof. access opening iii to the food-storage compartment E5. The outer and inner shells are held in spaced relation by diagonal gussets or struts 19 at the corners of the shells, the struts l9 providing the major support of the inner shell is from the outer shell 12.

The inner and outer shells are also spaced apart at 2A peripherally of the access opening. The inner shell is is provided with a flange 22 lying parallel to the front of the cabinet I l, and with a second flange 23 at right angles to the flange 22, thus forming a channeled edge which is extremely strong and rigid. Such a construction is very desirable because the inner shell is preferably provided with a vitreous coating on its exposed surfaces, which coating may crack at the edges of the inner shell unless the edges are rigid.

The outer shell I2 is provided with a pocket 24 opening toward the inner shell H3. The pocket 24 is preferably formed by providing a double flange 25 lying substantially parallel to the front of the cabinet and to the flange 22 on the inner shell, flanging the metal at 26 at right angles to the doubled flange 25, and again fianging the metal at 27 parallel to the double flange 25.

In accordance with the first embodiment of my invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, a breaker strip, comprising four separate strips 28 meeting at the corners of the access opening, closes the space between the outer and inner shells l2 and I3 and is attached to said shells in the following manner: A plurality of spring clips 29, bent to hairpin shape, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, are placed on the flange 23 of the inner shell l3 peripherally of the access opening l8.

A door ll closes an detail in Figs. 4 and 5, and bent to form a pocket 34, and first and second flanged portions 35 and 36 are attached to one marginal edge 31 of the breaker strips 28, the pocket 34 receiving said marginal edge 31. A marginal edge 38 of each of the breaker strips 28 is then inserted in the pocket 24 on the outer shell and is forced against the springs 32 until the flanged portion 36 of the retaining strip 33 is in such position that it may be forced between the spring clips 29 and the flange 23 on the inner shell, the spring clips thereby frictionally retaining the breaker strips 28 in position with the flanges 35 and 36 of the retaining strips 33 lying in juxtaposition with:

flanges 22 and 23, respectively, oftheinner shell I3. The breaker strips 28 are preferably formed of a material impregnated with'are'sinous eon": densate product and, preferably, are somewhat flexible.

In order to remove the breaker strips from the cabinet H, a knife blade or screw driver is inserted between the flange 22 of the inner shell and the retaining strips 33, thereby lifting the breaker strips 28 and retaining strips 33 free of the action of the spring clips 29. The breaker strips 28' and retaining strips 33 may then be moved in a direction away from the pocket 24 and removed from the cabinet.

As best shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the retaining strips 33 are provided with a slot or cut-out portion 39 at the bend between the flanges '35 and 36 thereof. The flange 36 is, therefore, easily deformable to allow for variations and warpage of flange 23 of the inner shell, and the spring clips 29 are sufficiently strong to tightly clamp the retaining strips 33 and flange 23 together. This is an important feature of myinvention and does not detract from the appearance of the assembly.

Referring to Figs. 6' and 7, a second embodiment of my invention is illustrated and like numbers are applied to the same partsas in Figs. 1 to 5, the'parts being the same except for the spring clips and'r'etaining strips. In this embodiment, a plurality of spring clips 4| are formed bybending a sheet of steel in a hairpin turn and then flanging one of the legs of the sheet at right angles as shown at 42, and the other leg through an. angle of less than 90 degrees as shown at 41. A sharp tab 40 is provided on the spring clips 4| which bites into the flange 23 and retains the spring clips thereon. Retaining strips 43 are attached toeach marginal edge 31 of breaker strips 28 and comprise a' pocket 44 receiving'the marginal edge 31 and a leg portion 46. A tab or hook 45'is pressed out of the leg portion 46 facing toward the pocket end of the retaining strips 43.

To assemble the breaker strips on the cabinet, the spring clips 4i are slipped on flange'23, with the edge of the flange 4'l' touching-the flange 22 of the inner shell l3. Springs 32 are disposed in pocket 24 on the outer shell, and the retaining strips 43 are attached to the breaker strips 28. One edge 38 of each of the breaker strips 28 is then forced into the pocket 24 against the action of the springs 32,- the hook-45 is then slid over the flange 42 of the spring clip 4 I, and the breaker strip is thereafter withdrawn slightly from the pocket 24 to engage the book 45 with the flange 42, as shown in Fig. 7. In order to remove the breaker strips 28 and retaining strips 43, they are forced againstthe actionof springs 32 until hook 45 maybe released from flange 42 of the spring clips 41.

It willbe obvious from Fig. '7 that the clip'4l is locked in position. It cannot move to the left because of hook 45 and cannot move to the right because of the abutment of flange 41 with flange 22. The clip 4| would thus be locked in position even though flange 23 were shorter than shown in Fig. 7.

From the foregoing, it will be obvious that I have provided an improved breaker strip assembly for a refrigerator cabinet.

While I have shown my invention in several forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

WhatI claim is:

"1. Ina refrigerator cabinet having walls com-- prising an inner and an outer metal shell and thermal insulating material therebetween, said walls having an access opening therein, said innor and outer shells terminating in spaced-apart edge portions peripherally of the access opening, a flange formed on the edge portion of said inner shell, said flange having a first portion extending towards the edge portion of the outer shell and a second portion extending rearwardly at an angle to said first portion, a breaker strip closingthe space between the edge portions of said shells, said breaker strip having an edge portion overlapping at least a part of said first portion of said flange and means associated with the edge portion of the outer shell for biasing said breaker strip edgewise towards the edge portion of the inner shell, the combination with said cabinet of a strip lying in part between said first portion 'of the flange and said edge portion of the breaker strip and contacting both the outer surface of said first portion of the flange and the inner surface of said edge portion of the breaker strip, said strip having a groove which engages theedge of said edge portion or the breaker strip, at least one clip engaging both sides of said second portion of the'flange of the inner shell, an extension on said clip abutting the first portion of the flange of the inner shell, a second extension on said clip extending towards the edge portion of the outer shell, and a hook on said. strip, said hook engaging the second extension of said clip to lock said clip in position on said second portion of the flange, said breaker strip being removable from its position adjacent the edge portion of the inner shell by moving it edgewise against the biasing means associated with the edge portion of the outer shell and disengaging the hook from the second extension of the clip.

2. The structure defined in claim '1 including a barb on said clip, which barb engages the surface of the second portion of the flange of the inner shell to retain said clip on said second portion.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the hook is integral with the strip and is punched out of the body thereof.

41 In a refrigerator cabinet having walls'comprising an inner and outer metal shell and'thermal insulating material therebetweemsaid Walls having an access opening therein; said inner and oiiter shells terminating in spaced-apart edge portions peripherally of the access opening, a flange formed on the edge portion of said inner shell, said flange having a first portion extending towards the edge portion of the outershell and a second portion extending rearwardly at an angle to said first portion, a breaker strip closing the space'between'the edge portions of said shells, saidbrea-kerstrip havingan edge portion overgaging both sides of said second portion of the flange of the inner shell, an xtension on said clip abutting the first portion of the flange of the inner shell, a second extension on said clip extending towards the edge portion of the outer shell, and a hook on said strip, said hook engaging the second extension of said clip to lock said clip in position on said second portion of the flange.

ROYAL S. BUCHANAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,329,754 Goulooze Sept. 21, 1943 2,267,294 Yoxsimer Dec. 23, 1941 2,368,542 Hall Jan. 30, 1945 2,348,645 Quinn May 9, 1944 2,343,447 Drake Mar. 7, 1944 2,334,259 Goulooze Nov. 16, 1943 

